A shrine at Devil's Throat
Monday, August 15, 2011
Tomato and Cheese sandwiches
plus cucumber salad for breakfast, lunch and dinner...
I became a vegetarian by choice and I love to travel. I cannot be fussy about food. But this is what I have for the first couple of days. On the third (or fourth?) day my luck turns for good and I have better choices, starting with this
then
and
and
I think there were only two more instances of the tomato and cheese sandwich after wards!
I became a vegetarian by choice and I love to travel. I cannot be fussy about food. But this is what I have for the first couple of days. On the third (or fourth?) day my luck turns for good and I have better choices, starting with this
then
I think there were only two more instances of the tomato and cheese sandwich after wards!
The scary looking crash on day 1
Lack of sleep for a few nights before the flight and also on the flight (see previous post), slight jet lag, plus off-road == CRASH
On the way from Sofia to Trigrad, Luke mentioned that there is a really scenic off-road section which is also a short-cut. Now the road for the past couple of hours was severely pot-holed with a generous sprinkling of sand and gravel all over. So I said sure, lets take the real off-road and hopefully save some time. SAN had been on it before and decided to stick to the "road" and I went with Luke. Well we barely rode for 15 minutes when I came into a corner in the wrong gear (maybe 3rd) with some rocks in the middle, went on the wrong side to avoid those rocks while trying to scrub some speed, fish-tailed and gently low sided. I immediately got away from the bike, but as I said, I was on the wrong side and the bike slid down into the ditch, almost 10' below :-(
I called out to Luke but he could not hear me, so I walked down to the bike and almost felt that the trip might be over even before it really started. Luke came back a couple of minutes later and we straightened up the bike. This will obviously need HELP
Thanks to Luke, help arrived soon and the bike was pulled out with 7 manpower.
Luke told me on the side to give the crew some money for their help. As I took out my wallet, these guys immediately said NO. Humanity is very much alive! Thank you guys and of course thank you Luke!
It turned out that the damage was minimal, 1 broken turn signal and mirror, some scratches on the plastic and a bent rear brake lever which Luke helped me straighten enough to be good for me, I rarely use rear brake!
So this is the story of my first crash in 14 years and well into 6 figure miles. Not a scratch on me. I am quite lucky!
On the way from Sofia to Trigrad, Luke mentioned that there is a really scenic off-road section which is also a short-cut. Now the road for the past couple of hours was severely pot-holed with a generous sprinkling of sand and gravel all over. So I said sure, lets take the real off-road and hopefully save some time. SAN had been on it before and decided to stick to the "road" and I went with Luke. Well we barely rode for 15 minutes when I came into a corner in the wrong gear (maybe 3rd) with some rocks in the middle, went on the wrong side to avoid those rocks while trying to scrub some speed, fish-tailed and gently low sided. I immediately got away from the bike, but as I said, I was on the wrong side and the bike slid down into the ditch, almost 10' below :-(
I called out to Luke but he could not hear me, so I walked down to the bike and almost felt that the trip might be over even before it really started. Luke came back a couple of minutes later and we straightened up the bike. This will obviously need HELP
Thanks to Luke, help arrived soon and the bike was pulled out with 7 manpower.
Luke told me on the side to give the crew some money for their help. As I took out my wallet, these guys immediately said NO. Humanity is very much alive! Thank you guys and of course thank you Luke!
It turned out that the damage was minimal, 1 broken turn signal and mirror, some scratches on the plastic and a bent rear brake lever which Luke helped me straighten enough to be good for me, I rarely use rear brake!
So this is the story of my first crash in 14 years and well into 6 figure miles. Not a scratch on me. I am quite lucky!
Setting up the bike
The bike, a 2001 BMW F650GS, is new to me (picture from later during the first day)
I planned to do some minimal farkeling before the ride. Mount a J C Whitney topcase, a power outlet, RAM mount on the handlebar and some throw over saddlebags. Topcase went on easy, 4 bolts and a couple of Stainless Steel zip ties for security, maybe 15 min. Power outlet, well this took slightly longer as the battery is under the fuel tank, or rather where the fuel tank is supposed to be, as the tank is under the seat. Well all this still took some time and earned SAN's wrath and later on a title for me, Eagle Eyes, Slow Feet. I worked on the second half and after a few of days that part was dropped!
I planned to do some minimal farkeling before the ride. Mount a J C Whitney topcase, a power outlet, RAM mount on the handlebar and some throw over saddlebags. Topcase went on easy, 4 bolts and a couple of Stainless Steel zip ties for security, maybe 15 min. Power outlet, well this took slightly longer as the battery is under the fuel tank, or rather where the fuel tank is supposed to be, as the tank is under the seat. Well all this still took some time and earned SAN's wrath and later on a title for me, Eagle Eyes, Slow Feet. I worked on the second half and after a few of days that part was dropped!
Getting there
In July 2011, I did a 3 week motorcycle ride through Bulgaria and Turkey with SpecialAgentNancy Here is a picture to put things in perspective :-)
Flight
A nice surprise, a middle row of 4 with only 2 passengers! The other person and I took the outside seats and I looked forward to some sleep, as I always do on long haul flights. Went to the bathroom after dinner and came back to find a stupid German girl (from the row behind) in my seat. Why? "my TV is not working". Well its a night flight miss, give your eyes some rest and go back to your seat. No, she just moved to the next seat over and watched TV all night :( To make things worse, the seat (it is not on exit row) does not recline "because it is next to the exit row". First time I heard that BS. Fortunately, on this Lufthansa A340-600, there is a mall style restroom area downstairs (yes a Lower Deck!) with 6 generously sized toilets
and with the changing table open, a flexible body like mine can actually lay down flat. Not that anyone should ever sleep in a toilet...
Arrived in Sofia and Luke (LukeKTM) is at the airport to pick us up and take to his house where the bikes are waiting. Thank you Luke. Here he is with his sons the next day
Flight
A nice surprise, a middle row of 4 with only 2 passengers! The other person and I took the outside seats and I looked forward to some sleep, as I always do on long haul flights. Went to the bathroom after dinner and came back to find a stupid German girl (from the row behind) in my seat. Why? "my TV is not working". Well its a night flight miss, give your eyes some rest and go back to your seat. No, she just moved to the next seat over and watched TV all night :( To make things worse, the seat (it is not on exit row) does not recline "because it is next to the exit row". First time I heard that BS. Fortunately, on this Lufthansa A340-600, there is a mall style restroom area downstairs (yes a Lower Deck!) with 6 generously sized toilets
and with the changing table open, a flexible body like mine can actually lay down flat. Not that anyone should ever sleep in a toilet...
Arrived in Sofia and Luke (LukeKTM) is at the airport to pick us up and take to his house where the bikes are waiting. Thank you Luke. Here he is with his sons the next day
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